November 08, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC As far as fast-casual restaurant chains go, Panera Bread is pretty up on it in terms of catering to the wellness set. The chain ditched all artificial ingredients years ago, launched a health conscious wellness series, and most recently, expanded their menu to include protein-rich grain bowls. When deciding the best place to eat healthy after spin class, you could certainly do worse than Panera. That said, if you adhere to a specific eating plan—such as gluten-free, vegetarian, or the Mediterranean diet—it does require a little menu decoding to figure out what’s truly best to order. Here, registered dietitian Chelsey Amer, RD, shares her top recommendations for what to choose for each of the aforementioned eating plans. Gluten-free Menu picks: Baja grain bowl with chicken; turkey chili What an RD says: If you’re can’t eat gluten because you have an allergy or intolerance, Amer says it’s important to stick with the recs on Panera Bread’s gluten-free menu. (The restaurant recommends that people with celiac disease or who are highly allergic to gluten should consult with their doctor before eating at Panera Bread due to potential cross-contamination.) Her top picks are the Baja grain bowl with chicken and the turkey chili bowl. The grain bowl has 31 grams of protein, while the turkey chili has 23 grams of protein—both high-protein wins in Amer’s book. Order tweaks: While the grain bowl has great fiber on its own (11 grams of fiber of the 25 grams you want to
Tag: Well+Good
How to use the 80-20 ratio for financial wellness, no matter how much money you have
November 08, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC No matter who you are, what you make, or how much you have saved, anxiety about money in at least some form is a common denominator for most of us. Sure, the way in which we freak out about it differs (maybe you essentially hold your breath until your next payday, or maybe you’re more concerned about stock market fluctuations, or maybe both). No matter where you stand in your financial journey, the concept of money itself can be freakout-inducing to an extent that forging a friendly relationship with it can feel impossible. But during our latest Well+Good TALKS, which focused on financial wellness, panelist Paco de Leon, financial expert and founder of the Hell Yeah Group, offered a quick tip for maximizing good feels about cash that anyone with any amount of money can use. And, by the way, it’s a simple reimagining of the classic 80-20 rule. “I think financial wellness is 80 percent of the time being chill, and then 20 percent of time freaking out,” de Leon said. “Even people who are wealthy and are going to be fine—they still worry. Human beings are hardwired [this way]. But if you can, 80 percent of the time, just be cool about it, that’s financial wellness for me.” What’s interesting about de Leon’s suggestion is that it cuts back on the day-to-day way that we worry about our finances. (And, as a former full-time freelance writer, I really wish I were
If I could use only one makeup product for the rest of my life, it’d be this $18 foundation stick
November 08, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC I remember the day the Flesh Beauty foundation sticks came across my desk. It was about a year and a half ago, and the just-launched line (a brainchild of beauty industry vet Linda Wells) exploded into the makeup world with its 40 shade range and other fun pigmented products. I plucked my best shade match out of the pack—adorably named “Crème Brulee”—and started playing around with it. Cut to today, and I’m still using that exact same Flesh Thickstick Foundation Stick ($18)… and I haven’t used another foundation or concealer since. Seriously. While it’s technically called a foundation, it does it all. Wanna color correct some under-eye circles? This stick’s got you covered, literally. Into wearing concealer without any foundation? That’s what I do practically everyday. Full-coverage more your thing? You’re in luck, because it’s fabulous as a foundation, too. Photo: Flesh Beauty The stick’s got a nice, thick circumference, which makes it super easy to swipe or dab on. It’s also easily portable, so you can do that swiping and dabbing wherever you go. You can choose to make it really subtle and light, or build it on for fuller coverage. It goes on really creamy, so it never cakes, and still makes me look like I’m not even wearing makeup. You’d have to be Nancy Drew to figure out that I’m spot concealing with the sneaky, natural-looking foundation. There are 40 shades to choose from, ranging from a very fair “Froth”
3 body language tricks to memorize if you wear your emotions on your sleeve
November 08, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC When someone says you “wear your heart on your sleeve,” it’s almost always a backhanded compliment. In certain company, being in touch with your emotions can lead to deep conversations. But at work, for example, it often pays to know how to cloak your true feelings to avoid unnecessary attention or conflict. Some people are simply more emotive than others, says body-language expert Patti Wood, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to hide when someone is really pushing your buttons. “First, always ask yourself if not disclosing how you feel is the best course of action,” says Wood. “If someone is doing something, like criticizing a friend of yours when she’s not present with you, it might serve you better to to say, ‘I don’t like to hear criticism of my friends.’” Knowing when to speak your feelings and when to hide them is a skill worth developing, but while you’re still trying to figure it out, use Wood’s three tips for concealing how you really feel when you’d simply rather not discuss it. Wear your heart on your sleeve? Hide your true feelings with these 3 tactics 1. Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth ‘This is an exercise used by audiologists and speech pathologists to relax, and it’s also a yoga exercise used to center and calm,” says Wood. When your tongue’s resting just behind your teeth, it becomes difficult to grimace, so even if you’re teeming
Restrictive eating plans continue to dominate the healthy food landscape—where does that leave eating disorder survivors?
November 08, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC Plant-based eating has never been more popular, as people have slowly become more aware of the negative health and environmental impacts of meat and dairy products. But for Melissa Stanger, LCSW, a love of animals and the planet was not the primary reason why she decided to go vegan in college. She did it, she says, because she was grappling with an eating disorder. “[Going vegan] was a way to control what kinds of foods I allowed myself. It was not a healthy way of doing things,” she says. She became extremely rigid about her exercise routine and eating patterns, and was ultimately diagnosed with anorexia. After she recovered, she earned her masters in clinical social work with a focus on eating disorders. She’s now 30, and works as a psychotherapist in New York City. This is not to say that becoming vegan is inherently going to lead to an eating disorder. But as the healthy eating space continues to be dominated by restrictive eating plans like the ketogenic diet, Paleo, Whole30, and intermittent fasting (IF)—all of which require people to cut out certain food groups or limit what and when a person is “allowed” to eat—experts warn that the continued trend is dicey for anyone with a history with disordered eating. The link between eating disorders and diets The DSM-5, the manual psychologists and psychiatrists use to diagnose patients, identifies three eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. While
The top 5 reasons you wake up in the middle of the night, according to a sleep doctor
November 08, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC Name me something more annoying than waking up in the middle of the night and then having trouble heading back into slumber. I’ll wait. Well, big plot twist ahead, because the top reason for waking up in the middle of the night is that doing so is simply part of your normal sleep cycle. But how many times is too many times? And if that number does err on excessive, what could be causing the wake-ups? “Everyone wakes up five to seven times per night between finishing complete sleep cycles,” says sleep expert Shelby Harris, PsyD, author of The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia. “Each awakening is extremely brief in nature, and we fall right back asleep with amnesia for it.” Furthermore, having two or three wake-ups that you actually remember is common, and NBD for your snooze time, so long as you’re able to return to sleep relatively quickly. Age plays a factor here, Dr. Harris says, given that younger people tend to awaken once or twice a night briefly, whereas older people tend to have more “broken, shallow sleep.” No matter your age, what matters more than the number of times you wake up (and remember it) is the the duration—and if your mornings feel messed up as a result. “You could awaken only twice at night, but if one awakening is for an hour many times a week, that’s likely a problem,” Dr. Harris says. So, if you’re feeling exhausted from
What you should ask instead of ‘How many people have you slept with?’
November 07, 2019 at 10:45PM by CWC It’s a huge bummer that despite rapidly changing social norms, number shame still exists—particularly for women. I’m talking about the question: “What’s your number?”—how many people you’ve had sex with. According to a recent study, horny (heterosexual) people are likely report a lower number when interacting with someone attractive of the opposite sex so as to appear more selective and less promiscuous. Everyone is entitled to partner with someone—or many someones—who shares their values and interests, but a focus on past sexual partners may eclipse a more objectively important conversation that should be had between two people who are planning to become intimate with one another: “When was the last time you were tested for STIs, and can I see the results?” Broaching the topic—that is, how to talk about STDs with a new partner—is often easier said than done. “How many past sexual partners your partner has had is completely irrelevant,” says Laurel Steinberg, PhD, a psychotherapist, certified sexologist, and adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University. You should wish for your partner a past spent doing whatever made them happiest, she says. “What is important is for you to know is what they are currently involved in sexually as well as their health status and what, if any, STIs you could contract by being with them so that you can make an education decision about your own health.” STD rates have risen to a record high, and yet large numbers of women and
I tried EMS training and got the benefits of a 90-minute workout in 30 flat
November 07, 2019 at 09:28PM by CWC As a member of the burnout generation (hi guys! hope you’re all hangin’ in there!) who barely has time to wash her hair, I can’t be bothered spending hours in the gym. Which means I need my workouts to be two things: effective and efficient. It’s why I’ve fallen so deeply in love with megaformer classes that marry strength training and cardio into a 50-minute session. It’s also why I once subjected myself to a fitness singles mixer, but that’s a story for another time. So when I first heard about EMS, or “electrical muscular stimulation” training, which promises to give the equivalent of a 90-minute workout in 30 minutes flat, I cleared a space in my back-to-back calendar and booked a strength-training session at NOVA Fitness in Tribeca. EMS training uses electrical currents to heighten the contractions in your muscles. It’s the same technology that doctors use on injuries, but has some pretty cool applications when repurposed for the sake of fitness. When you work out, you’re voluntarily contracting your muscles—that’s more or less Physiology 101. What EMS technology does, though, is trigger involuntary muscle contractions, which your brain doesn’t know how to do on its own, in order to get more from your moves. So for example, with a regular bicep curl, you get two muscle contractions. But when you add EMS into the mix, you’re purportedly getting forty of them, without having to do anything differently. While it may sound
The healthy weeknight dinner a top dietitian makes in 6 minutes or less
November 07, 2019 at 07:30PM by CWC Getting a healthy weeknight dinner on the table is a constant struggle whether you’re cooking for one or your whole family. In a perfect world, the fridge would be stocked full of pre-prepped proteins and veggies ready to heat and eat. But that doesn’t always happen. Keri Glassman, RD, relies on a three ingredient meal of grass-fed meatballs, marinara sauce, and spinach, which is ready to eat in just six minutes. Both the meatballs and the spinach can be found in the frozen food aisle, which has seriously become the new healthy hub of the supermarket. When choosing a marina sauce, Glassman just says to be mindful of the sugar content. To get this healthy weeknight dinner on the table, Glassman heats the meatballs on the stove while at the same time sautéeing frozen spinach in a separate pan. When the meatballs are almost done, she adds the marina sauce to the spinach (or you can heat it up separately in a small pot, if you don’t mind washing another dish later). Even with just three ingredients, this healthy weeknight dinner is completely balanced and nutrient-dense. Meatballs are rich in protein and spinach provides plenty of fiber—both are high in iron. The marina sauce adds antioxidants thanks to the tomatoes. Not too shabby for dinner in a rush (and on a budget). Glassman proves wrong the belief that eating healthy requires an abundance of time and money. The frozen food aisle wins again.
The most calming home-decor tweak for each sign during Mercury retrograde
November 07, 2019 at 07:00PM by CWC The final Mercury retrograde of 2019 started on Halloween and isn’t going direct until November 20, i.e., nearly Thanksgiving. Since the retrograde is in Scorpio this time around, you can expect to have a super-emotional time because the scorpion is notorious for secrecy and deep feelings. Basically, if you’re feeling a bit more sensitive right now, that makes sense. But before you resolve to throw your phone away and hibernate to ride out the remainder of the retrograde, heed some advice from design historian Alessandra Wood, PhD, an astrology buff and VP of style at Modsy, a virtual home-design service. “There are ways to make your home a calm respite so you can deal with the battles retrograde has to offer,” she says. “But it’s important to note that each zodiac sign will have a different way of dealing with it, depending on their personality.” Below, check out her top zodiac decor tips for decorating your home in order to survive retrograde, based on your sign. To stay calm through the Mercury retrograde, make the following zodiac decor tweak for your sign. Graphics: Well+Good Creative Aries: Start a decluttering project Fiery Aries is known for its wild temper, but with communication in flux during retrograde, now isn’t the time to get into any deep discussions with whomever you share a living space. “This is likely not the best time to confront your partner or roommate about their poor taste in decor,” says Wood.